# question about time and stuff **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 6, 2013, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-time-and-stuff/675696 "2013-12-06T18:52:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![clearmist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f14d63/32.png) [@clearmist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clearmist)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2013, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-time-and-stuff/675696/1 "2013-12-06T18:52:23Z")
So I heard time can bend with magnets. so I was trying to think of a way of sending a message, back through time and so far all I can think of is ways to send it fwd in time through very shorts amounts. So I was thinking If we take 2 super magnets and put them opposite, could it separate timewaves making a gap in between them? If so, try sending some type of pulse/signal unaffected by the magnets between the gap? ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2013, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-time-and-stuff/675696/2 "2013-12-06T18:59:45Z")
How does _time_ “bend?" ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2013, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-time-and-stuff/675696/3 "2013-12-06T19:05:37Z")
And what are ‘timewaves’? ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2013, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-time-and-stuff/675696/4 "2013-12-06T19:07:57Z")
And what is a “super” magnet? ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2013, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-time-and-stuff/675696/5 "2013-12-06T19:10:13Z")
Magnets don’t bend time. The MRI just seems to go on forever because it’s uncomfortable and boring. ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2013, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-time-and-stuff/675696/6 "2013-12-06T19:17:50Z")
The woo is strong with this one. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2013, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-time-and-stuff/675696/7 "2013-12-06T19:22:49Z")
> [@clearmist](#): > > So I heard time can bend with magnets. so I was trying to think of a way of sending a message, back through time and so far all I can think of is ways to send it fwd in time through very shorts amounts. > > So I was thinking If we take 2 super magnets and put them opposite, could it separate timewaves making a gap in between them? > > If so, try sending some type of pulse/signal unaffected by the magnets between the gap? You heard wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2013, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-time-and-stuff/675696/8 "2013-12-06T19:28:51Z")
> [@clearmist](#): > > So I heard time can bend with magnets. so I was trying to think of a way of sending a message, back through time and so far all I can think of is ways to send it fwd in time through very shorts amounts. > > So I was thinking If we take 2 super magnets and put them opposite, could it separate timewaves making a gap in between them? > > If so, try sending some type of pulse/signal unaffected by the magnets between the gap? The only thing in your post that makes any sense is sending a message forward in time - and that would be at a rate of 1 second per second. Everything else is just wrong. Do you have a specific article in mind? That might help us get an idea of what you’re talking about. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2013, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-time-and-stuff/675696/9 "2013-12-06T20:23:33Z")
Holy crap, it worked!! > [@KneadToKnow](#): > > Here’s my backward-through-time message-sending experiment. ETA: I knew it would!! ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2013, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-time-and-stuff/675696/10 "2013-12-06T20:24:35Z")
Here’s my backward-through-time message-sending experiment. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2013, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-time-and-stuff/675696/11 "2013-12-06T20:39:26Z")
> [@](#): > > People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually, from a non-linear non-subjective viewpoint, it’s more like a big bowl of wibbly wobbly timey wimey… stuff. It must be true, he’s a doctor. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2013, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-time-and-stuff/675696/12 "2013-12-06T20:41:50Z")
Started well, that sentence. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2013, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-time-and-stuff/675696/13 "2013-12-06T22:19:00Z")
The shroud of the clueless has fallen. Begun the time war has. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2013, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-time-and-stuff/675696/14 "2013-12-06T22:46:11Z")
[Water, fire, air and dirt Fucking magnets, how do they work? And I don’t wanna talk to a scientist Y’all motherfuckers lying, and getting me pissed.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvmvxAcT_Yc) ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2013, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-time-and-stuff/675696/15 "2013-12-07T00:41:06Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > How does _time_ “bend?" With gravity. Gravity bends spacetime, and as the name implies time is a component of spacetime. I _suspect_ the same is true of magnetism, and that enough magnetism would noticeably bend spacetime until the point you get a black hole. A form of [kugelblitz](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kugelblitz_%28astrophysics%29); magnetism is energy surely, and in enough quantities would bend spacetime just like other forms of energy can. But I’m no physicist; and at any rate we’d be talking about ridiculously strong magnetism to pull that off. EDIT: The point I was trying to make is that there’s nothing unusual about time bending. It’s normally bent, except perhaps out in the middle of an intergalactic void. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2013, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-time-and-stuff/675696/16 "2013-12-07T02:29:08Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > Here’s my backward-through-time message-sending experiment. > [@KneadToKnow](#): > > Started well, that sentence. Did you perhaps write these sentences in proximity to an extremely strong magnet? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2013, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-time-and-stuff/675696/17 "2013-12-07T02:46:46Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > With gravity. Gravity bends spacetime, and as the name implies time is a component of spacetime. Yes, spacetime includes time. But spacetime itself doesn’t actually bend. Spacetime just is. Gravity just changes paths in spacetime, which isn’t the same thing. If we had a full theory of time, then I suppose we could say if time is variable. From what we know now, though, time always progresses at one second per second inside any reference frame and nothing is known that can alter that in any way. That certainly includes magnetism. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2013, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-time-and-stuff/675696/18 "2013-12-07T03:45:59Z")
Well, spacetime can sort of rotate, with time becoming space-like, and space becoming time-like. This can happen near very large gravitational fields. Roger Penrose worked with the math and came up with some…interesting…results. [Wikipedia article on the Penrose Diagram.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penrose_diagram) My old physics prof used the term “rotate,” and not “bend,” but I think the idea is the same, sort of. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2013, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-time-and-stuff/675696/19 "2013-12-07T03:56:19Z")
I’m getting over my head, but I think Penrose diagrams are a tool for representing spacetime at singularities rather than an actual description of spacetime itself. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2013, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-time-and-stuff/675696/20 "2013-12-07T05:07:29Z")
I’m WAY over my head, but, again, my old physics prof said that Penrose had shown that (mathematically, anyway) near a singularity, space can become timelike, and vice versa. This is how Tipler got to the “rotating cylinder” kind of time machine. Closed paths in space turned into paths in time. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-time-and-stuff/675696.md?page=2)